The Indian contingent on The European and Asian Tours will expect to reap the rewards of home advantage at the 2015 Hero Indian Open as the newly co-sanctioned event embarks on a new era.
The two tours will co-host the tournament for the first time in its history this year, as the competition celebrates its 51stedition, having been played on the Asian Tour since 2005 – a year after the Tour’s inception.
Since 1998, five Indians have tasted success at the Delhi Golf Club, which will host the event for the 27th time. However, in that time there have been seven home victories, with Jyoti Randhawa enjoying a hat-trick of triumphs, including back-to-back wins in 2006 and 2007.
Clearly familiarity with course and conditions play a big role in the outcome of the tournament and Indians are likely to continue to be the biggest threat to challengers from Asia and Europe if history suggests anything.
Several Indian professionals have tasted success both at Asian and European Tour events at the Delhi Golf Club, with Randhawa having won two of his three Indian Opens there in addition to two Hero Masters events.
Meanwhile, Shiv Chowrasia has won one co-sanctioned and one Asian Tour event at the same venue: the 2008 Indian Masters and the 2014 Panasonic Open India respectively.
Anirban Lahiri won his first three Asian Tour events at Dehli GC, and Rashid Khan broke through for his debut win there at the SAIL-SBI Open last year. To further the home success over this course, Arjun Atwal also won the Hero Masters there in 2000.
Since 1998, when Feroze Ali became only the second Indian professional after Ali Sher (1991 and 1993) to win the Indian Open, barring only one edition in 2003 – when Atwal and Randhawa tied for sixth – every Indian Open has seen at least one Indian finish in the top five.
Shiv Kapur, who has twice finished inside the top four at the Indian Open, said: “The Hero Indian Open is undoubtedly the biggest event for any Indian, and for me to win it would bring me three times as much joy – it is the national Open, it is my sponsor’s event and it is also being hosted at my home club Dehli GC, where I grew up playing. So it means a lot to me.”
Leading the Indian challenge will be Lahiri, who at 27, is now the highest-ranked Indian in the field - 73rdin the Official World Golf Ranking.
Echoing Kapur’s sentiment, Lahiri said: “The Dehli GC is always special, as it gave my first three wins and last year I came within a sniffing distance of the Hero Indian Open. I desperately want to add it to my collection and I feel very comfortable at this venue.”
Jeev Milkha Singh, who has four European Tour wins, will be looking to emulate the success of his countrymen at the Hero Indian Open.
He said: “I have come so close to winning the Indian Open so many times. I have won the national Open of many other countries like Scotland, Singapore, China and Austria, but it is the Indian Open I want most.”
Five-time winner on the Asian Tour, Gaganjeet Bhullar, confirmed this desire for home success, saying: “All my wins have come outside India and nothing would please me more than winning at home at the Hero Indian Open, because the sponsors have also backed me over the years.”
Since last year, Delhi Golf Club has undergone a par change, from 72 to 71.
In a very strong line-up comprising players from The European and Asian Tours, the Indians will form almost a quarter of the field of 132.
